Man accused of cooking wife hospitalized

Frederick Hengl, is shown at his November 2012 arraignment in Vista Superior Court with Deputy Public Defender Alejandro Morales, left. Hengl pleaded not guilty in the dismemberment death of his wife, Anna Faris, of Oceanside.
— Bill Wechter

Frederick Hengl, is shown at his November 2012 arraignment in Vista Superior Court with Deputy Public Defender Alejandro Morales, left. Hengl pleaded not guilty in the dismemberment death of his wife, Anna Faris, of Oceanside.
/ Bill Wechter

VISTA  An Oceanside man accused of killing and cooking his 73-year-old wife last fall has been hospitalized, and his court proceedings have been postponed.

Frederick Hengl, 68, was taken admitted into Tri-City Medical Center on Saturday with severe pain in his leg and hip, said Deputy Public Defender Debby Kirkwood.

Kirkwood said her client has a serious physical illness which will require treatment, but said she was not at liberty to disclose the nature of the illness.

His preliminary hearing, set for Tuesday in Vista Superior Court, was postponed indefinitely. At the end of such a hearing, a judge decides if enough evidence exists to order the defendant to stand trial.

Hengl’s attorney said she her client, who has lost a lot of weight in recent months, was “very frail and had difficulty walking” when she last saw him a few days earlier.

“He has gotten progressively worse since November when I first met him,” Kirkwood said.

Hengl was arrested on Nov. 16 after Oceanside police, investigating complaints of a lingering foul odor coming from Hengl’s home, found inside the dismembered remains of his wife, Anna Faris.

Faris’ severed head was in the freezer, and her body parts were cooking on the stove of the couple’s bungalow-style home.

Hengl’s defense attorney said her client denies killing his ailing wife, who suffered from late-stage Alzheimer's disease. The couple had been married 34 years, and Hengl has been very depressed since the death of his wife, the "love of his life," Kirkwood said. She said he quit his job in February to devote himself to caring for her.

Hengl faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges, which include murder, willful cruelty to an elder and committing an unlawful act with human remains.

When he was arraigned in November, Hengl appeared frail in court, and his lawyer at the time requested he see jail medical staff for a heart condition.